The International Airport at Tegucigalpa. The craziest landing ever!
It was very American
there in the cities... Burger King, McDonalds, TCBY Yogurt, Western Union,
and even a Church's Chicken!
The Organization for Latino(a) Awareness (OLA).
Riding through the city.
At the Mission in Flores getting a tour.
The sun and plants were an amazing change from boring Michigan.
Their church.
Their boys school where they do wood working, painting and singing.
Got to love the palm trees.
Everything was beautifuly landscaped.
This is where we stayed, the Mission at El Conejo.
At night we hungout and told stories, Pete needed props.
Each morning we got up to work, we were building this fence.
It is at the young boys school.
In the afternoons we played with the kids.
They of course loved soccer.
And more soccer... most of them played barefoot.
Some of the kids wanted to read also.
Mari reading with the kids.
Being the tall (huhum) gringo that I am I had to play some basketball.
The kids were great!
This is the smartest little boy I ever met.
After a long day of work, and then playing with kids who wear you out... the sunsets were amazing on the walks home.
One morning I was part of Team Jardin!
We worked a couple mornings to help clean up the garden in the courtyard
of the Mission.
We ate three meals a day at the Mission
Some days the OLA students helped translate letters for sponsors.
For our afternoon at the girls school... a little Albion beauty shop opened
up.
The girls all got their toes painted.
Then, they went and played soccer barefoot.
They were a ton of fun to play with.
The girls liked taking photos more then the boys did, they all wanted
to see themselves on the digital cameras.
It was hot, and the shade from the trees was great.
So I was applying sunscreen each day... but I was not getting everywhere...
so I got some little red horns.
Everyone was excited to ride on the back of a truck.
They drive like crazy down there!
Then we all piled out.
We walked around the small village of Flores.
Rachel, who had been on the trip before and knew someone at this beauty
salon.
It was interesting that in some of the most run down areas... you still see some big fancy houses.
The church in Flores.
I thought this scene was interesting... a bunny on clothes line drying
out in a yard surrounded by barbwire
.
Everywhere you go the kids want you to take pictures of them.
Mari had her first coke in a bag.
I was bored and took this one night, it turned out well.
On Friday we went to Comayagua. It was the biggest town near the mission.
Moe and I taking a funny pic by the government building on the plaza.
We all became addicted to milkshakes down there.
Sarah and I in front of the fountain in the plaza.
Oh yeah... What's Up. That was Pete's saying all week, so we made him
buy this shirt.
The markets reminded me a lot of Santa Cruz.
So did the manakins. Interesting the difference to American ones right?
Got to love gaurds and shot guns everywhere.
Their Cathedral had just been restored.
It was very well done.
After a long day... we checked some internet, ate some ice cream, and caught a bus back to the mission.
That night was a party at the women's shelter.
Lots of dance lessons.... Gasolina...
He must of thought Pete was a gaint!
Of course some wrestling.
Nothing like some ice cream and cake at a party.
The next morning it was back to work.
The supervisor never showed up, so we just talked and relaxed a little.
The views of the land were amazing. Mountains in the distance, rolling hills...
On the way home I got an Elote. It was okay.
More Liquadas (Milkshakes).
For those who don't know... I define a place by its food... so I photograph it.
My Meat. I noticed that everything down there had a sugary taste to it...
even the pork chops.
That afternoon we went to the girls high school.
Soccer, volleyball and jump rope were the games of the day.
Jill, one of the long term mission staff and one of the girls.
The girls make the food for the entire mission.
On our way back, we got more pop in a bag.
Jake and Pete got some coconuts.
On our last night we all left some donations for the mission.
In the morning we took our last pic at El Conejo.
After a long 5 hour ride... through winding mountain roads... we made it to Copan.
It is the site of some famous Mayan Temples.
The size of the pyramids was breathtaking.
Moe taking a pic.
One of the houses.
The Puma shaped alter... head slicing happened there.
One of the kings rooms.
I can only imagine what is was like to stand there... in front of thousands...
How long and hard was it to build all that?
The long staircase is covered now to protect it from the elements.
Good thing you can't climb it anymore... I doubt I would of made it.
Then we went into Copan, to get some lunch... a place called Carnitas, just my style!
The waitress brought the drinks on her head.
The town of Copan was very interesting and touristy. These carts were sweet.
They had a very nice plaza in town.
The old Spanish influence was very evident in the town.
We stayed at a four star hotel.
With an amazing pool.
And of course a hot tub!
The final day of the trip, Pete finally got a Salva Vida (Life Saver)...
now we could go home.